Every TSP fund -- with the exception of the ever-reliable government-securities G Fund -- finished last month in negative territory, according to new data from the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board.

Federal employees in same-sex marriages have until August 26 to make changes to their health and life insurance among other benefits, according to a new memo from acting OPM Director Elaine Kaplan. Same-sex spouses of federal employees are now eligible for coverage under under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP), Federal Employees Group Life Insurance (FEGLI), Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program (FEDVIP), and Federal Long-term Care Insurance.

With the Supreme Court's overturning of the Defense of Marriage Act, same-sex spouses of both federal employees and military personnel will be eligible for the same benefits previously only available to opposite-sex couples.

OPM is planning to add four new insurance carriers to the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program (FEDVIP) for 2014. Premium rates and benefits coverage of the new plans would be announced later this year ahead of the annual federal health-insurance Open Season.

What does Jackass: The Movie have to do with the federal health plan, considered the nation's biggest and best? Well it boils down to the risk pool and an administration plan to set up a third category for self-plus-one coverage, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says.

When it comes to those annual cost-of-living adjustments, a growing number of federal workers and retirees actually get diet COLAs each January. And that would get worse -- and extend to all retirees under a White House plan that has strong congressional backing, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says.

All veterans who have waited two years or more for a decision will have their cases decided by next month, the Department of Veterans Affairs told Congress. Half of the Veterans Benefits Administration's oldest cases already have been removed from the backlog.